Fort Fisher (LSD 40) - Naval Cruise Book

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USS Fon T FISHER CLSD-4 0 9 USS FORT FISHER STERN GATE HELICOPTER DECK 50-TON CAPACITY CRANES LCM-5 LANDING CRAFT W, SEARCH RAOARS 4.43 ,S Z . X Am AND sunuce A n X l ', . 4 D .9 'Sw Znvnnc emoce Lcvv LANDING CRAFT .. Y.: moruouse -Q R AFT GUN oecxs sncNAL amuse FORWARD GUN DECK FORECASTLE SHlP'S CHARACTERISTICS LENGTH 562 FEET BEAM 84 FEET DISPLACEMENT 13,700 TONS SPEED IN EXCESS OF 20 KNOTS . .QgxXXX 1-' S N, : Xml 1. '5 g f 1 TA! l g I IQ 1,2,,h1',v:j.t y I ' ii lllllll - 2 ' I X sf I I. mmm .if f 'n Sexy- 9 Xxxxs . sum 5 The history of USS FORT FISHER actually begins in the early 1860's. The ship was named for the Confederate stronghold Fort Fisher, Norht Carolina, which stood at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, guarding the last major Confederate port to be closed by Union Forces. The nam- ing of an amphibious ship after this fort is especially appropriate in that it was the most extensive land-naval battle of the Civil War. The ship which bears the name FORT FISHER was built in General Dynamics Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts. Her keel was laid on July 1970, she was christened on 22 April 1972, and commissioned on 9 December 1972. USS FORT FISHER left the Boston area on 2 February 1973 and by way of the Panama Canal reached her home- port of Long Beach California. On 15 August 1973, FORT FISHER's homeport shifted to San Diego, California. From January to July 1974 she made her first extended overseas deployment as a unit of the Amphibious Forces, U.S. Seventh Fleet. To date this was FORT FISHER's seventh Western-Pacific deployment. FORT FISHER has undergone two extensive overhauls for the purpose of modernization. The first was at Todd Shipyard in San Diego in October 1976. The latest was at Triple A Shipyard at Hunter Point in San Francisco, CA. from February until September 1981. The ship's versatility has resulted in a variety of unique assignments. A whale was once transported from San Diego to Long Beach in the well deck for a marine exhibit. In early 1978, she patrolled off South Vietnam to rescue a U.S. Yacht that had been temporarily held by the North Vietnamese. In September 1977, on her way to the Western Pacific, USS FORT FISHER transported heavy construction equipment for rehabilitation of Eniwetok Atoll, which had earlier been the sight of atomic bomb testing. From transporting whales to amphibious operations, consistent excellence in the performance of both the ev- eryday and the unusual has earned the FORT the repu- tation of being the 4.0 ship of the Navy.